Celebrate 25 years of Staten Island's Alice Austen House Museum

AUSTEN'S ARCHIVE: RARELY SEEN PHOTOGRAPHS
A house party to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of a Staten Island landmark When: Opening reception May 15, 2-7 p.m.Where: Alice Austen House Museum, 2 Hylan Blvd., Rosebank; 718 816 4506, ext. 12.How much: Suggested donation is $25 (or anything you can so we can keep the house open for many years to come.)More information: Write EAAusten@aol.com or visit www.AliceAusten.org. STATEN ISLAND, NY --This weekend's hottest house party just might
be a silver
anniversary celebration for a residence that's more than 300 years old.

Huh?

Let us explain: On May 15, 1985, the Friends of Alice
Austen gathered on the lawn of a property once known as Clear Comfort to
mark
the end of a decades-long quest to rescue and restore the Dutch
Colonial/Gothic
Revival home of a pioneering 19th-century photographer (1866-1952).

A
struggle born in the mid-1960s is now part of Staten Island history as
the Alice
Austen House marks 25 years as a public museum in Rosebank.

"I think
what's really interesting is how the house has evolved over the years,
starting
out a traditional house museum and evolving into an arts organization,"
says Carl
Rutberg, executive director of the Alice Austen House Museum, a National
Historic Landmark since 1993. "The board and staff agree that the best
way of
keeping Austen's legacy alive is to infuse the house with the sort of
excitement,
creativity and risk-taking that existed when she lived there. It's not
just
filled with objects, it's filled with activities."

To commemorate the
anniversary and the opening of a new archival exhibit, Austen's Archives:
Rarely
Seen Images, Rutberg and company are throwing an all-day bash May 15
from 2-7
p.m. In case you haven't heard, the Alice Austen House Museum is rumored
to throw
the best parties, oh wait, art opening receptions on Staten Island.

So,
is that
rad reputation warranted?

"Absolutely, and that works into what's so
important and such a vital part of the story: The site itself," says
Rutberg. "The
lawn, the view on the water looking over Manhattan and the Verrazano
Bridge —
there is really nothing quite like it. We're very fortunate to be
surrounded by
water on three sides. It's remained protected from development. The
Austen house
in the middle of some sort of townhouse development wouldn't be the same."

Partiers can expect plenty of food and refreshments, Victorian
games,
photo discussions and, of course, some of the best views in New York
City. At 4
p.m. the winners of the Alice Austen High-School Photo Competition will
be
announced. (Perhaps there is a future Ms. Austen among them.) The
featured
exhibit includes 35 images that organizers say encapsulate not only the
groundbreaking technique and subject matter of Austen's work, but also
the joy
she took from photographing the world around her.

But don't get the
wrong idea: This isn't just some golden oldies (no disrespect, classics
are
classics for a reason) venue. The exhibition space, although steeped in
history,
is also looking toward the future.

"We've made a concerted effort to
show exciting new photography. Austen broke barriers when she ventured
out with
her camera a century ago, and we want to show people who are breaking
barriers
today," says Rutberg. "I think that's something Austen would have liked.
And when
we do contemporary photo exhibits, we always include a couple of Austen
photographs to keep it in context. It's a fun way of introducing her work
to
younger viewers."

While there are certainly larger,
higher-profile cultural institutions on S.I., the Alice Austen House
Museum has
become an undisputed creative hub for the borough's thriving community of
young
artists. Many of these creative-types marvel at the "mirror image" the
venue
offers between the S.I. of yesterday — and today.

"The bohemia in
which
Alice Austen lived, in a time period that wasn't very accepting of that,
is
really revolutionary. She was the first of her kind to bring artistry to
Staten
Island," says Concord-based filmmaker Geoff Celis, 29, who hosts the Open
Film
Night showcase Wednesdays at Martini Red in Stapleton. "Now, we have a
resurgence
of art on Staten Island and younger people exploring that. I'm amazed
that Austen
existed in the first place. It's unbelievably inspiring. It happened 100
years
ago, and it's still happening."